Local boy Hamlin looks for dang near perfect year’ with win at Richmond

Tuesday

Apr 29, 2008 at 12:01 AMApr 29, 2008 at 11:59 AM

Few of his fellow drivers know Richmond International Raceway as well as Denny Hamlin. Hamlin grew up in nearby Chesterfield, Va., and has logged so much time at RIR as a driver and spectator that he's practically on a first-name basis with everyone at the track.

Jerry Bonkowski

Few of his fellow drivers know Richmond International Raceway as well as Denny Hamlin.

Hamlin grew up in nearby Chesterfield, Va., and has logged so much time at RIR as a driver and spectator that he's practically on a first-name basis with everyone at the track.

As he moves around the infield or makes promotional appearances around the track, Hamlin gets the local-boy-makes-good treatment over and over: "Hey there, Denny." "Go get 'em, Denny." "Kick some butt, Denny. "We love you, Denny." "Gonna win today, Denny?"

But what Hamlin knows best is how to get around the three-quarter-mile racing surface. In four career Sprint Cup starts at RIR, Hamlin has three top-10 finishes, including a runner-up and third-place showing.

And with his win at nearby Martinsville several weeks ago, Hamlin could be in the best position yet to finally win a coveted Cup race at his home track and go 2-0 in his home state this season in Saturday night's Crown Royal Presents the Dan Lowry 400.

"For sure, that would be a dang near perfect year for me if I could win at both (Martinsville and Richmond)," Hamlin said after finishing third this past Sunday at Talladega. "The pressure seems on myself a little bit more when I go to Richmond, but I’m excited for that. I like knowing that I have a lot of friends and family watching, and the pressure is on me to perform and usually that is when we perform at our best."

Hamlin and his No. 11 Chevrolet finished third in this race last spring, followed by a sixth-place outing here last fall. Along with winning a pole in the fall race two years ago, he has continually been knocking on victory's door.

Saturday, he may finally be able to open that door.

"It would be exciting for me to win at Richmond," he said. "It’s the No. 1 track that I want to win at right now. I don’t know the excitement that it would be. I know how I felt after Martinsville, and it would probably be double that."

While he's obviously done quite well in the overall scheme of things at Richmond, there is a hint of frustration in the 27-year-old's voice, not having been able to capitalize in his four previous starts there.

That's why he's hoping No. 5 is the charm.

"We’ve had our chances there," Hamlin admits. "We seem like we can run second to third to fourth but never have a winning car at the right time there."

Perhaps the most frustrating element to date is how Hamlin has been in contention in each of those previous four races, only to lose out in the dash to the checkered flag because of some error, particularly on pit road.

"We just faltered on pit stops at the end of those races especially last year," he said. "We had our position, and we were in the lead on the last pit stop, and then we came out third or fourth. That is really hard to overcome. For us, it’s just about not making mistakes at the wrong times."

Hamlin's third-place finish at Talladega lifted him two spots in the Sprint Cup standings. He comes into Richmond fourth in the points, 99 points behind leader Jeff Burton.

Several other drivers also are pointing at a win for themselves at Richmond.

Dale Earnhardt Jr.'s last Cup win came here two years and 71 starts ago. Kasey Kahne, who was shut out of victory lane last season after winning six times in 2006, returns to the place of his first career Cup win in 2005.

Fellow Virginia natives Elliott Sadler (has a terrible record at Richmond, with just one top-10 finish in 18 starts) and Burton (1 win, 7 top fives and 12 top 10s in 27 starts) would like their own glory in front of their home state fans, as well.

But Hamlin hopes Saturday night is his time to finally do what he's been dreaming about as a kid when he first started his racing career: leaving RIR a Cup winner.

Jerry Bonkowski is National NASCAR Columnist for Yahoo! Sports and a featured contributor for Gatehouse News Service. He can be reached at NASCARColumnist@Yahoo.com.

THE HAMLIN FILE

- Hamlin is off to one of the best starts of his Cup career, with one win, three other top-five and two additional top-10 outings in just nine starts.

- He has already led 249 laps this season. He led a career-high 906 last season.

- He comes into Saturday's race as one of Cup's hottest drivers: in the last five races, he's finished sixth, first (win at Martinsville), fifth and back-to-back third-place finishes.

- Hamlin's four to-date Cup wins have been at Pocono (twice), New Hampshire and Martinsville.

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